Coffee Shop
by DamonandFluffy
Summary: A modern AU where Levi works at a coffee shop and runs into Eren on a daily basis. Rated T for language and minor suggestive jazz.


Levi was bored. Extremely bored, and it wasn't just today. It was the same thing day after day- he gets up at 6:05 a.m. exactly to go to his EXCITING job as a cashier at a nearby coffee shop, where he mostly cleans because he doesn't get along with customers well and really likes it, works 'till 11:50 a.m. and goes home for lunch, usually having ramen, then makes his way over to the pet shelter and volunteers to help clean there. That usually goes until 7: 30 p.m. where he goes home and has dinner, which is usually different forms of chicken and some sort of vegetable on the side, then he works on bills and such until bed. He never has anything else to do, so days like this are a drag.

The coffee shop was closed- something about an unsatisfied customer not getting what she wanted- and the animal shelter isn't open on Sundays, so he was left with nothing to do. He sighed and leaned his head back on the couch. _Guess I could go look at the damage done at the shop, see how long it'll take to fix. _Slowly Levi dragged himself off his couch, slipped on his shoes and coat and head out.

It was the middle of winter, so coffee was popular. _People sure are gonna be pissed about the shop being closed, _Levi thought, chuckling to himself. He pulled the coat tighter around himself and continued on. It felt nice stretching his legs. He knew he'd have to clean the bottom of his shoes to death before stepping inside the house, but he tried not to think too much about it.

Finally arriving, he sees a small crowd of disappointed customers, groaning and complaining as they trudged away, disappointed that their morning plans have been cancelled. He watches the people disperse, careful not to make contact with any of them- in this cold weather anybody could be sick. Suddenly, a certain huddle of teens catches his attention.

A brown-haired boy stands next to a blonde boy and black- haired girl with his hand thrown back behind his head with exasperation. "Ahhh! The shop's closed!? How the hell am I supposed to be awake for my exams today?" The girl smacked him upside the head and crossed her arms again. "Eren, the coffee won't help you any, studying will."

Levi walks over to the trio and greets them quietly, just to let them know of his presence. The kids were named Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, all regular customers. They had come to the shop plenty of times, but finally Eren had complained about there being too much this and too little that in his latte, and Mr. Perfectionist promptly stepped in and made it perfectly. Now Levi's all Eren wants to have. At first Levi was reluctant with seeing the same faces every day, but the boy was quite easy to like- he was polite, intelligent in his speech, made painless conversation, and most importantly, complimented him on his "excellent attention to detail and extraordinary cleaning skills" in the shop.

Their relationship got to the point where they exchanged phone numbers and talked often about stresses in their lives. Levi's never really had someone he can call a friend, yet he made one so easily, with a 17 year old boy no less!

"Y'know Levi, you could've told me the shop was closed; I came all the way here to see you and you're nowhere to be found!" Levi gave a small smile and looked up at the taller male. "For one thing, you're not my first priority, and second of all, you didn't come here for me, you came for your latte." Eren scoffed and jerked his head to the side pretending to pout, though he did look a little bit hurt. "That's not true, yes you make it perfectly and I take full advantage of that, but we've grown to be really close friends and I truly enjoy seeing you…" His voice trailed away and a tint of red appeared on his face. Mikasa shifted uncomfortably away from Levi and looked in the distance, appearing to suddenly be in a bad mood, and Armin nervously smiled and kicked the snow slightly. Levi looked amongst the group and scratched the back of his head.

"I, uh, really enjoy seeing you everyday too. You kids are pretty much the only interesting thing in my life so…" Eren suddenly looked at Levi confused. "W-What?" Levi asked startled by his sudden reaction. "B-But what about your wife?"

"Why on Earth do you think I'm married?"

"W-Well… your ring… it's a wedding band, a-and, well, you're… wearing… it…"

Levi stared at him, his mouth gaped open. After a few minutes of awkward silence, he composed himself and chuckled. "Oh, this? Yeah it's a wedding ring; I was married-"  
"And you still wear the thing like an over-attached, helpless, lovesick baby?" Mikasa hissed, obviously looking for a way to insult the adult. Levi just dead-eyed her for a few seconds, scolding her for interrupting, then answered her "question". "I wouldn't say that. My old love, Petra, is dead," he said with pain in his throat," I'm simply wearing it in memory of her. My apologies for misleading you,"

"There's no need to apologize!" Eren said," I'm very sorry for bringing up such a painful subject and-"Levi put up his hand to hush him. "It's fine Eren, really…" Several awkward minutes pass as people walk by, all going their separate ways to continue on with their lives. Finally, Armin pulls up his sleeve and looks at his watch. "Guys, we should probably start going to school, class'll start soon." Eren nodded and looked shyly at Levi to say his good-byes. "You kids have school on a Sunday?" Eren smiled and slipped his freezing hands into his pockets. "Uh, just this week. We got into a bit of trouble in class and we have a detention class,"

"I see…" Levi raises his hand and gives a small wave, "Well I'll see you brats later then, and don't expect the shop to be open anytime soon, that woman made a hell of a mess of it." Eren smiled warmly and nodded, "If you ever need anything, feel free to call me; I'll be happy to help in any way I can!"

"Get outta here or you'll be late." And without another word, Levi turned heel and walked back toward his house. He felt the usual tears of loneliness start to swell when he knows Eren will be leaving him. Every day when Eren has to go to school, Levi has to go hide out in the custodian's closet for ten minutes or so to cry his heart out, then get back to work before he's missed. It probably wasn't healthy, but it was his reality, and it was embarrassing, relying on a teenager to fill the empty void in his heart; he couldn't possibly admit anything like that.

Today's tears came quicker than usual, probably because they had mentioned Petra, but the cold weather could've also contributed. He thought about her a lot, but it doesn't really hurt all that much anymore… honestly, ever since he met Eren, she stopped haunting him, he could actually sleep at night, and he didn't drag his feet through every hopeless hour of every day. Levi's face burned red when he thought of the reason behind this.

_Don't be ridiculous Levi! _He argued with himself, _you are not in love with a male, let alone a kid! Look at reality here, you're just being weak! _But that didn't seem to convince his conscience; in fact, it seemed to challenge it to prove it wrong. Memories of Eren's beautiful smile flooded his head; his sweet voice resonated in his ears. Finally reaching his house, he threw his face into his pillows and cuddled into his sheets, absorbing the warmth. _Fuck, _Levi hissed. He looked down at his feet to see them still in his muddy and wet shoes. He reluctantly looked farther back to his front door and stared at the trail of footsteps up to his room. _At least I have something to do now…_

Levi pressed the buttons on his remote, channel after channel, still bored out of his mind. He looked down next to him at his phone, then up at the clock. _Eren should be out by now, right?_ Levi picked up his cell and clicked 'Call' on Eren's name. He pulled his knees to his chest as it rang, waiting for him to answer. But slowly, his heart dropped when Eren didn't pick up. But before he clicked 'End Call' he heard Eren's voice from the other side of the line. "Hello?" Levi's face beamed and he gripped the phone tighter. "Ah! Eren, it's me, Levi."

"Oh, Levi! Hey- ugh shut up Armin I'm on the phone… yes I'll finish the homework in- SHUT UP MAN I'M ON THE PHONE!" Levi chuckled and adjusted on the couch. "What are you doing?" he asked after he heard a sigh from Eren. "Oh, I'm just doing homework, nothing interesting,"

"More than I'm doing."

"Ah ha, bored I see?"

"Uh ha, yeah… do you think you could, um, come over… so we could, I don't know, just hang out?" Levi waited for an answer, but when he didn't get one he tried again. "Hello?"

"This is Mikasa, Eren's _sister_. He's not interested in hanging out with an old man like you, he's got people his own age he'd much rather hang out with." Levi scoffed, obviously not convinced. "How about you put him back on the phone and let him tell that to me himself? Considering you seem to hate me, I can't just believe you."

Again there was no answer, and the phone disconnected. Levi sighed and lay down on the couch, grasping his phone. Before he knew it, he dozed off.

The damage on the shop wasn't as bad as he thought it was and it was fixed and back in business within days. Levi hadn't heard from Eren since that time and was happily waiting for him to walk through any minute now. But time passed, and Eren never came by. Other students from his school did, but him, Armin, and Mikasa never showed. Levi tried to not let it bother him and waited the next day, but still Eren didn't come. Levi waited for several days, but not a single visit. He tried calling and texting him, but he never replied. It got to the point where Levi doubted he would come, and getting out of bed became harder.

His co-workers noticed enough that they actually started talking to him. One of the cashiers named Hanji came up to him while he was wiping a table. "Hey there Levi," she greeted, trying to grab his attention. Levi looked slightly over his shoulder to acknowledge her. "Uh, so, the other employees and I have noticed you're really… out of it."

"What do you mean?" Levi asked quietly with no particular interest. "Weeell, you're cleaning isn't the way it usually is. It's all sloppy and you seem depressed about it. No one has complained, it's just… not like you."

Levi shrugged. "I've got no one to try and please. Now go away, you're irritating me."

He noticed he acted different, he just had no interest in fixing anything. All he cared about was Eren. He had admitted a while ago he definitely had feelings for Eren in hopes of him returning, but he never did. So if Destiny wasn't going to change, why should he?

Hanji didn't seem satisfied with this and urged on. "Is it because your regular guy isn't coming through anymore?"

"It's none of your concern, leave me alone."  
"Hey now, this kind of attitude isn't really nice-"

"WOULD YOU FUCK OFF YOU STUPID BITCH!?" With the wet rag in his hand, he raised it to strike her when the doors to the shop swung open to have Eren standing there. Levi looked at him in a mix of anger, confusion, happiness, and sadness. Eren looked back, trying to decipher the situation. "What's going on?" he finally asked.

Levi couldn't hold back any longer. He shamelessly threw himself into Eren's arms and embraced him tightly, crying into his chest. Eren was taken aback by this but wrapped one arm around his waist and with the other stroked his hair, trying to comfort him.

"Where the fuck have you been you stupid brat!?" Levi whimpered. Eren's eyes widened. "You really missed me that much?"

"Of course I did! Like I fucking told you, you're the only person with any importance in my life! So when you fucking disappear into thin air I get worried and lonely!"

In an effort to calm Levi down, Eren hugged him tighter. If it calmed him, he doesn't know, but it definitely got him to quiet down. After several minutes, Eren tried again to understand exactly what the problem was. "Levi, I need you to stay calm. I understand you missed me, but what was the tantrum all about?"

Levi picked his head up and looked up at Eren. "I…" Levi's throat hurt and he sounded weak from all the crying and it was embarrassing to be in this state, especially in front of all these people. "I wanna go somewhere else…" he whispered. Eren nodded and helped Levi to the break room.

"Now, can you tell me what happened?" Levi nodded slightly and looked down at the ground. "I really, really missed you Eren, and I guess I was acting depressed so they tried talking to me and I got pissed and lashed out…"

Eren nodded. "But why were you so upset about it?" Levi didn't know how much more of this he could take. Eren was trying to pry every piece of information out of him. How could he possibly tell him he's in love with him?

"Eren…" _Oh God, what the hell am I doing?_ "Eren, I just… I don't really understand it but…" _Brain I could've sworn I just said I wasn't going to tell him! _"But Eren I, I… I LOVE YOU!" Immediately Levi tucked his head back into his shoulders and looked away, his face burning red. He couldn't bear to look up at him in fear of seeing a disgusted face. But instead, he felt Eren's hand caress his cheek, urging him to look up. Levi reluctantly complied and met Eren's eyes.

Eren smiled warmly and, without warning, leaned in and kissed him. Levi instantly melted and pulled Eren closer. This went on for several seconds until the need for air won and they had to part.

Suddenly Levi brought up his hand and slapped Eren across the face, knocking him to the ground. "Ow! What was that for!?" Levi stood up and crossed his arms angrily. "Now it's your turn to explain! Where the HELL have you been all this time!?"

Eren rolled his eyes and stood up. "After Mikasa hung me up on you she 'confiscated' my phone and dragged me on a 'road trip'.

" So what you just forgot about me!?"

"Sorry, you're not my first priority," Eren said tauntingly, quoting what Levi had said earlier. Levi scoffed and turned away," Brat…"

Eren laughed and pulled Levi close to him and kissed his head, rocking him slowly back and forth.

Weeks passed, while Levi was working' the shop doors open, ringing the bells at the top. "Leeeeeee~viiiiiiiii!" Eren swoons, skipping over to the man carefully cleaning the counter intensely. When he noticed that failed to get his lover's attention, he laid his head down on the counter where Levi was working at and smiled as cutely as he knew how. "Eren…" Levi acknowledged, unable to sustain a small smile. "Le~vi!" Eren chirped. He picked up his head and kissed Levi before sitting down at one of the counter chairs and rested his head in his hands. "Sooo…" Levi began. "When are we gonna get married, huh?" Eren said with a huge smile. Levi's face immediately flushed and he looked down. "Uh…" Eren laughed. "I was just kidding with you! I've definitely gotta graduate and get an awesome job!" Levi relaxed and nervously laughed. "Buuuuut…" Eren began, leaning closer to Levi, who backed away fearfully. "How many kids are we gonna adopt?" Levi threw the rag at his face and stormed off. "We are not having this conversation now!" Eren leaped up and chased after him. "But we still need to discuss who's getting whose last name, when we're moving in together, and all that other important stuff!" The coffee shop became much brighter from then on.


End file.
